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Dr. Jürgen Kohr

took over the reins of T-Systems’ Cyber Security business unit in July 2013. Before taking on the role, Kohr, a business administration graduate, had been Senior Vice President, Corporate Strategy at T-Systems since 2009.

Security services from the cloud.

Interview with Jürgen Kohr, Senior Vice President of the Cyber Security business unit, T-Systems International.

Mr. Kohr, cyber attacks are becoming more aggressive, systematic and damaging than ever before. What are the biggest threats to businesses?Cyber security is an extremely challenging issue for businesses. Only a select few have the resources and expertise necessary to deal with targeted intrusions which means these attacks often go undetected until it’s too late – or they’re not picked up at all. The greatest danger is that companies dismiss the risks and fail to recognize that they are a target for cybercrime.

How can CIOs go about protecting their companies effectively?It comes down to developing the right cyber security strategy and having the architecture to match. Entirely new approaches are needed to create effective solutions. For example, we feel that equal priority should be given to detecting, overcoming and preventing attacks – in financial terms, too. IT experts need to work more closely with management teams across enterprises and industries. T-Systems is promoting this dialog at CIO level, creating a platform for exchange, for instance at the Cyber Security Summit.

What will be the first task for the new Cyber Security business unit?Businesses need to become aware of their status as potential targets at a much earlier stage. We need to detect cyber attacks far more quickly. Doing so will enable companies to launch counter measures sooner, limiting the damage. This is our focus at the moment and we’re investing a great deal in this. Next year, we will be able to offer new cloud-based cyber security services to SMEs in Germany. We will also establish a new generation of service operation centers, enabling us to provide comprehensive security services to corporate customers.